He also told her that when Lord Ram will make his way through the forest while searching for his wife Sita, Shabari can get a chance to not only meet him but also host him. &0183 &32 King elaborates on a dichotomy found in Gerald Hamilton Kennedys sermon The Mind and the Heart to explore the need for tough-minded and tender-hearted Christians. In his ailing years, when Sage Mathanga was about to depart to his heavenly abode, he blessed Shabari and told her that her good deeds and penance shall help her seek darshan of Lord Ram, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu. She stayed there for years together and willingly did everything.
Shabari rendered her selfless services and took up cleaning, housekeeping of the ashram. He recognised her noble pursuit and even offered her to stay in his ashram. She wandered for days in the forest and came across Sage Mathanga, who not only gave her food but also shelter.
Shabari wanted to seek noble virtues in life, which is why she left her family and paternal home. She was against the idea of killing or even harming animals and even avoided non vegetarian food. It is said that Shabari belonged to a hunter’s family and grew up seeing her family kill animals for food. One of the most-loved episodes of Ramayan which moves us everytime we hear about it is the ‘shabri ke ber’ incident.
